Whats the deal with all the crying?!?!....

Wabi Sabi, BSN, RN · Nov 19, 2009

It could be from stress and being overwhelmed. We had one female student cry at the beginning of the program. She was very young (19 at that time) and never had to deal with sick individuals prior to nursing school. So, there she was, standing outside the patient's room crying. We were of course shocked when we saw that. The instructor took her off the floor and had a talk with her. In the end, she calmed down and was able to get through the rotation. She hasn't cried since then. I guess when people are put in a situation so overwhelming and unfamiliar to them, some of them don't know how to deal with it so they resort to tears. Or perhaps, they are just overachievers.

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · Nov 19, 2009

I started tearing up in one of my classes today but it had nothing to do with school. It had to do with stuff going on at home that I was thinking about. I usually cry when I am angry or frustrated. They're are a handful of people in my class that cry a lot about school, they said they have always been emotional and they get themselves all stressed out and will start crying if they didn't pass returns or a test of something. I normally can handle stress really well but today I let my home stress get the best of me, thankfully no one saw me. My friend that sits next to me might have noticed me wiping my eyes but if he did he isn't the type that would have said anything to me about it. He would know I wouldn't want him to.

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · Nov 19, 2009

It could be from stress and being overwhelmed. We had one female student cry at the beginning of the program. She was very young (19 at that time) and never had to deal with sick individuals prior to nursing school. So, there she was, standing outside the patient's room crying. We were of course shocked when we saw that. The instructor took her off the floor and had a talk with her. In the end, she calmed down and was able to get through the rotation. She hasn't cried since then. I guess when people are put in a situation so overwhelming and unfamiliar to them, some of them don't know how to deal with it so they resort to tears. Or perhaps, they are just overachievers.

You just reminded me, I did cry (if you want to call it that, it wasn't like hysterics it was pretty quiet) but I did in the hall outside my patients room when I knew she was about to die. I got really close with her in the nursing home and was looking forward to spending the day with her and as soon as I walked in the room I knew she had hours at the most, complete 180 from the week before. It was my first experience with loosing a patient, I left and went out in the half and cried a little and then pulled myself together and went back and made sure she wasn't alone. Her biggest fear was being alone so I talked to my instructor and asked if us students could switch rotate going in and sitting with her so she wouldn't be alone.

butterfly journey · Nov 19, 2009

Well, I'm on the brink of being in nursing school (start in January) and I personally know that I will probably cry at some point. It isn't that I am over-emotional (goodness knows ask my mom, she says I never show any emotion) it's my way of releasing stress. You know how some people hit things, some people work out, some people yell/curse... well I either go into fits of uncontrollable laughter (which freaks out most of my family 'cause I can't stop it) or I cry. There's nothing really emotional about it. It's mainly a physical thing for me, just like exercise is for some. It just let's the stress/anger/frustration melt away a bit. This sounds crazy, but sometimes I will induce myself to cry in a hot bath after I've had a tough day because my body actually "releases" and I feel less stressed afterward.

Now I'm not saying that I will walk around a hospital crying all the time, in my opinion it's unprofessional, but I have cried once or twice in my office behind closed doors.

Different strokes, different folks. :)

HeartsOpenWide, RN · Nov 19, 2009

I only recall crying twice during nursing school, and only once directly related to school. It was second semester and I thought I was going to fail my Med/Surg mid-term; I ended up with a B in the class and went on to graduate Cum Laude. The second time was my last semester when I did not get the job I really wanted and had already gotten several rejections prior to this. I did end up getting the job when a second position opened, but initially I totally fell apart in the shower because I had done a whole bunch of extra work (NRP, beginning midwifery course, became a certified doula, was working on a grant for low income pregnant women, got accepted into Sigma Theta Tau) and did 300 extra clinical hours/precepting in L&D to help me get a job in L&D and it was why I went to nursing school.

gibson0726 · Nov 19, 2009

I cried during my 2nd semester during clinicals. I saw a patient code and die, and then I saw the family get the news. I still see their faces in my mind..It was heartbreaking. I went to the bathroom a couple of times and cried my eyes out.

The second time I cried was today, but they were tears of joy. It was my last clinical day ever! I still remember my very first day stepping onto the unit in my new,crisp scrubs like it was yesterday. It has been a long, hard road and I've learned so much. Today feels better than I had imagined..

thinwildmercury · Nov 19, 2009

in high school i remember specifically crying when i got my first F. I thought I'd go the rest of my life without one of those. i cried for a lonnng time. and i also cried when i realized i didn't pass one of my ap exams. i have not cried since being in college (well, over finances yes but not grades) but i am sure i will in NS. i mean that's my future i don't want to screw anything up. and when you're body is running on empty (no sleep, hardly any food) and your nerves are on end then, yeah, you'd probably cry thinking about how your life is in some one else's hands and your best is not good enough and you are going to disappoint your family. yikes i feel their pain. but i tend to hold negative emotions in until i burst so maybe that's my problem

sunnycalifRN · Nov 19, 2009

Well, I never cried during nursing school but I was in my 50's, male, and older than most of the instructors. But, I did see a number of students who cried during clinical. Most of the time it was due to one particularly nasty instructor who would find fault with everything and then berate the student until she broke down. It wasn't about test scores or grades. The other time students cried was quite understandable because one of our patients died while we were on the unit.

Virgo_RN, BSN, RN · Nov 19, 2009

I cried when I made a med error.

Dragonfair · Nov 19, 2009

When I was in my BSN program which I would not recommend to anyone, My tears came from anger. Anger do to the cheating that was going on under the instructors noses. I still think they knew who and when and they, still passed them. My satisfaction was being able to say I pass my board the first time. They took their several times.

Yes Girls and Boys there is a word called WEEDING and schools do it very frequently:angryfire

Christine43 · Nov 19, 2009

I'm not in NS yet (next year) but it can be very cathartic for some people to cry. They can release their emotion and then be able to go on and function. I recently had to defer my enrollment to NS for a year b/c of family issues and although I am not a cryer in general, I did cry quite a bit about that. It's probably a very good thing that I did too b/c holding all those feelings in could have been very unhealthy for me.